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Saturday, May 28, 2011

NO-2429 Gustav Claussen, affidavit on Hartheim

Comment: Claussen is wrong to suggest all who allegedly destroyed the Hartheim facilities were killed. At least one person gave testimony

Text
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO. NO-2429OFFICE CHIEF OF COUNSEL FOR WAR CRIMES

I, Gustav Claussen, born in Busum [?], Schleswig, Holstein, on 7 March, 1897, and now residing in Dachau, Germany, duly swear and state:

That from the end of 1943 till March 1945 I was a prisoner on duty in the Arbeits Einstaz in Mauthausen where the administrative work was accomplished for Mauthausen and sub-camps; that in this office I did clerical work, such as making reports, keeping records, and corresponding with firms who used prisoners in the operation of their business; that in the course of my duties I saw a secret teletype message which to the best of my memory was as follows:
"TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMP MAUTHAUSEN, SS STANDARTENFUHRER ZIEREIS, HARTHEIM MUST BE DESTROYED IMMEDIATELY. EXECUTION MUST BE REPORTED. BY ORDER OF THE FUEHRER,
OBERFUEHRER BRACK"
That this teletype message was received at Mauthausen in December 1944:

That I saw a list of names of inmates of Mauthausen who were assigned to destroy Hartheim Castle; that this detail consisted of about 125 men; that I never saw any of these men again and believe they are all dead; that in the death lists which I saw in connection with my clerical work in the office of Mauthausen I saw about 50 to 60 of the names of the men who had been assigned to destroy Hartheim Castle; that I have heard that all men who had been assigned to destroy Hartheim Castle were put to death to prevent their telling about the Crematorium and the large quantity of ashes which had to be removed from Hartheim Castle so that nothing could be seen of what had been going on there.